Boxer Ladon delivers PH’s 2nd silver in Asian Games

SILVER MEDALIST. Rogen Ladon settles for the silver after losing to Uzbekistan’s Jasurbek Latipov in the men’s flyweight final in the 18th Asian Games boxing competition at the Jakarta International Exhibition Center in Kemayoran, Indonesia on Saturday. (Photo by PSC Media Pool)

JAKARTA — The Philippines settled for another silver medal at the 18th Asian Games when boxer Rogen Ladon lost in the men’s flyweight (52kg) final on Saturday.

Uzbekistan’s Jasurbek Latipov was declared winner via Referee Stopped Contest-Second Round in the gold medal match held at the Jakarta International Exhibition Center in Kemayoran.

The ring doctor stopped the bout after blood oozed from Ladon’s left eyebrow due to a wound caused by Latipov’s head butt.

“He [Uzbek] was in the ropes and when he sprung back, he gave me the head butt,” said the 25-year-old Ladon, a first-timer in the Asian Games. He placed ninth in the light flyweight (46kg to 49 kg) category at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

lliance of Boxing Associations in the Philippines (ABAP) president Ricky Vargas, who handed the silver medal to Ladon during the awarding ceremony, said: “It’s a major disappointment. Not only (to) me but (to) the entire country (that) aspired for the gold medal.”

With the loss, the Philippines ended its campaign with four golds, two silvers and 15 bronzes — a big improvement on the 1-3-11 gold-silver-bronze haul in the 2014 Incheon Asian Games. In Guangzhou, the Philippines won three golds, four silvers and nine bronzes.

Thanks to weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, skateboarder Margielyn Didal and golfers Yuka Saso, Bianca Pagdanganan and Lois Kaye Go — the Philippines has surpassed its one gold (courtesy of BMX rider Daniel Patrick Caluag) performance four years ago.

Filipino-Japanese judoka Kiyomi Watanabe also won the silver in the women’s -63kg category while those who delivered the bronze medals were boxing’s Carlo Paalam (men’s light flyweight) and Eumir Felix Marcial (middleweight); golf’s Bianca Pagdanganan (women’s individual); cycling’s Caluag (men’s BMX); ju-jitsu’s Margarita Ochoa (women’s Newaza -49kg); karate’s Junna Tsukii (women’s -50kg); pencak silat’s Cherry Mae Regalado (women’s singles), Almohaidib Abad (men’s singles), Dines Dumaan (men’s Class B 50kg to 55kg) and Jefferson Rhey Loon (men’s Class D 60kg to 65kg); taekwondo’s Pauline Louise Lopez (women’s -57kg), women’s poomsae team (Juvenile Faye Crisostomo, Rinna Babanto and Janna Dominique Oliva), and men’s poomsae team (Jeordan Dominguez, Dustin Jacob Mella and Rodolfo Reyes Jr.); and wushu’s Agatha Chrystenzen Wong (women’s taijiquan and taijijian all-round) and Divine Wally (women’s sanda -52kg).

Meanwhile, Vargas has congratulated all the athletes who competed here.

“Our athletes can stand proud on the medal stand. We have really improved our medal tally from one gold, three silvers and 11 bronze medals. We’ve done better,” Vargas, president of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), said in a statement.

“Ang atleta talaga ang magdadala (The athlete will really carry it), kaya (that’s why) the athlete needs all the support. They get the blame, they get the reward, but our role is to really support the athletes. They are the most important part of the equation,” he added.

“The women in sports are really giving us so much pride. So we should really look at parity and bring in more (of them) in sports. They have proven that they can win,” said Vargas, citing that 13 of the medalists are women.